Ps 130 is one of my favourite psalms. We begin by crying to God ‘out of the depths’ (referring to anything low, deep or profound, such as the ocean, a pit or a valley, all of which are used in the Bible to describe difficult times), but find a God who forgives, loves and redeems. In the meantime, however, there is a need for waiting and hoping, often quite long periods when nothing seems to be happening and all that is required of us is trust. Those times are not easy for impatient people who like instant answers!
Helping ourselves and others when we are in the depths of despair is not easy. Perhaps the first thing we can do is listen. Job’s friends identified with his suffering and sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, without speaking. (Job 2:12-13) Often, it is important simply to get alongside those who are suffering, even if we have no words to speak.
Secondly, the Psalms teach us to pray in all situations, however desperate they are. Prayer is not a ‘last-ditch’ effort to twist God’s arm. As we pray, we allow God into those situations which trouble, wound and upset us. So often, we try to keep Him at arm’s length, but in praying for ourselves and others, we invite God into our lives to help and heal, opening the door to His action and intervention.
Waiting involves ‘a wholehearted attention to the living voice of Scripture.’ (Michael Wilcock) It is not passive resignation; it is an active form of hoping in God, resting in all we know of His character. Each of the penitential psalms reveals to us facets of God’s character we are liable to forget in troubles:
- Unfailing love (Ps 130:7, Ps 143:8, 12)
- Goodness (Ps 143:10)
- Guidance (Ps 143:8,10)
- Forgiveness (Ps 130:4)
- Durability (Ps 102:12, 25-26)
- Sovereignty (Ps 102:12)
- Compassion (Ps 102:13)
- Faithfulness (Ps 102:17)
- Redemption (Ps 130:7)